The applicant's patent application DE 10 2014 222 153.6, which has not yet been published, describes a transmission, which has three planetary gear sets and four shift elements. Five forward gear ratios between an input shaft and an output shaft can be engaged through selective pairwise closure of the four shift elements.
With a high number of forward gear ratios, it is possible, with a similar or even greater overall spread of the transmission, to provide smaller ratio steps, which promote fuel-efficient operation of a motor vehicle with an internal combustion engine. However, with an increased number of forward gear ratios, the effort involved in the construction of the transmission, and thus also the weight and production costs, are increased.